Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Holdings Lifted by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 97.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,977 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,966 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $1,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VRSK. Louisbourg Investments Inc. bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 966.7% during the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 128 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Verisk Analytics by 186.7% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Samuel G. Liss sold 11,656 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.06, for a total transaction of $3,649,027.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 67,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,051,406.64. This trade represents a 14.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth Mann sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.88, for a total value of $91,164.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 15,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,790,668.20. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,120 shares of company stock valued at $7,192,416. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verisk Analytics Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ VRSK opened at $264.19 on Thursday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a one year low of $259.01 and a one year high of $322.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.91 billion, a PE ratio of 40.71, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.34. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $297.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.51.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. Verisk Analytics had a return on equity of 460.89% and a net margin of 30.67%. The firm had revenue of $772.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $767.91 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verisk Analytics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VRSK shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $317.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial set a $315.00 target price on Verisk Analytics and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Verisk Analytics from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.60.

Verisk Analytics Profile

Verisk Analytics, Inc provides data analytics and technology solutions to the insurance markets in the United States and internationally. It offers policy language, prospective loss costs, policy writing and rating rules, and various underwriting solutions for risk selection and segmentation, pricing, and workflow optimization; property- and auto- specific rating and underwriting information solutions that allows clients to understand, quantify, underwrite, mitigate, and avoid potential loss for risks; catastrophe modeling solutions, which enables companies to identify, quantify, and plan for the financial consequences of catastrophes for use by insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, financial institutions, and governments.